Jamie McBain could jump into LA Kings lineup with Martinez out

LOS ANGELES – Jamie McBain has never tested his puck-moving skills in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. 

For 345 career games between the Carolina Hurricanes, Buffalo Sabres and now the Los Angeles Kings, McBain has never played in a game at the NHL level this time of year.  

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“I’m always watching and hoping that next year is going to be the year I get to do it,” McBain said.

That will likely change Saturday night. McBain is the most obvious candidate to draw into the Kings’ Game 2 lineup against the San Jose Sharks in place of the injured Alec Martinez. The Kings didn't officially say McBain would enter the game, but he spoke like a player about to jump into the lineup after Saturday's morning skate. 

“It’s something I’ve not been able to do through my career so far,” the 28-year-old McBain said. “It’s something I’ve looked forward to for a long time and I’m ready to go.”

Throughout the course of the regular season, McBain has been the Kings’ seventh defenseman on the depth chart. In 44 games, he had two goals and seven assists, while averaging 12:14 of ice-time.

Los Angeles’ defensive depth was considered an issue going into the playoffs. It didn’t only have to do with McBain, but also 37-year-old veteran Rob Scuderi and younger players without postseason experience like Luke Schenn and Brayden McNabb.

Losing Martinez, who averaged 21:09 of ice-time this year, was considered a painful proposition, unless McBain can give LA meaningful minutes.

“Obviously we have a top end with our guys, and if you look at last game, we go down to five, and we have a couple guys with very limited playoff experience in the lineup in that game in Schenn and Brayden, so it definitely affected us,” Kings coach Darryl Sutter said. “So what do we expect out of Jamie? We expect him to be a really good competitor and move the puck. If he doesn’t, then we’re going to have a problem.”

In Game 1, Martinez left after the second period with an undisclosed injury, and the Sharks exploited the Kings D with a powerful forecheck in their 4-3 win. This has put an even closer microscope on Los Angeles’ blueline going forward.

“You know what they’re going to bring. It’s a physical series and they’re going to be a hard forechecking team,” McBain said. “They’re great in the neutral zone. They have a lot of D that jump up and make plays, but I think at the end of the day it’s about taking care of our end, getting pucks up for forwards as defensemen and making sure we’re breaking that forecheck.” 

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Josh Cooper is an editor for Puck Daddy on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter! Follow @joshuacooper